Body-treatment machine.



J. P. GARDNER. BODY TREATMENT MACHINE.

APPLICATION T'ILED DEG. 31. 1913 65 Se W y ,M25/wf@ T7-76570 @www J. P. @Mmmml BODY TREATMENT MACHINE( A1PLIGA1ION FILED DIEG.31,11913.

' --Eatentea Mar. 30, 191:5,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 J. P. GARDNER.

BODY TREATMENT MACHINE.

APLICATION IILBD DEU. 31, 1913.

1,1 34,084. Eateme Mar. so, 1915,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

5. P. GARDNER.

BODY TREATMENT MAUEHNB.

APPLICATION FILED 326.31, 1913.

l l Patented Mar. 30, 1915,

SHEETS-SHEET L lie 4binarian s'raf'rss JAMES P. GARDNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINO'S, ASSGNOR. TO THE REDUCING MACHINE' rarnwr. crimen COMPANY, A CORPRATION OF 1335117015.

BOY-TBETMENT MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern." Be it known that l, JAMES P. GARDNER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and btate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Body-Treatment Machines, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates more particularly to a machine or apparatus which'is intended Yto be used for treating or acting upon per.-r sons in order to secure certain results, such as reduction in size, reduction in weight, reducing i or overcoming muscular ailments, stimulating the action of internal organs and the like. y,

The objects of the present invention are to provide a machine or apparatus whereby f' the body of a person may be subjected to any desired degree of'pressure and be simultaneously rolled or acted upon by the members in Contact therewith; to provide a sim ple and eiiicient machine for rolling and pressing o r massaging the body'or limbs of a person; and in general to provide a machine for giving such treatment as willbe more fully described and explained hereinafter.

In the, accompanying drawingsv illustrating my invention: Figure 1 is a side eleva- -tion of the machine with theswinging or lar to Fig. 3, but with the arms shown in the position which Ythey may assume when the machinerie acting upon the bodycof a.

person; lig 5 is a sectional plan view'illustrating adjusting mechanism; Fig. 6 Ais 'a detaill'lof the adjustable stand; and, Fig. 7 isavdetail of the roller brackets. 1

In all of thesefigures themachine is shown moreor less diagrammatically, parts being broken'away orv omitted for convenience in illustration.

trunk brflimbs of a person', and theniolled cr moved while .in such pressing engage ment, sujchfinemberspreferably making con- Atact or-v engaging- 'as nearlyl as possible certain features of the driving-and' saecniceum .if Leners raient. Patgmfe Mar, 39, 191,5 Application aies December 31, 1912. serial No. seaaee. i

base of the machine to' which is secured the rear frame members 11. The upper wd lower horizontal frame members 12 and 13 at the top oi the machine are provided with rearwardly extending projections 14 and 15, which are secured to the'vertical members 11. The frame members 12 and 13 are approximately .semicircular, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 1, and are supported at their'- front ends by the vertical shafts 16 and 17. The lower ends of these shafts engage with bearings 18 and 19 on the base 10, and are provided with worm gears 20 and 21. ,A horizontal shaft 22 is mounted in projections' 23 and 24 from the bearings 18 and 19, and is provided with worms 25 and 26, which engage with the worm gears 2() and 21. This Vshaft is provided with means, suon as the cranks 27, for turning the same, the arrangement beingsuch that when the crank is turned, the worms and worm gears' will cause the shafts 16 land 17 to rotate. Arms 29 and 30 are, secured to the shafts 1-6 and 17, between the frame-members 12 and 13, so that they will swing when the shafts `are turned. Short shafts 31 and 32 are mounted inthe outer ends of the arms 29 and 3d.V

and. 3S secured to the base o the machine, and extend, up through bearings 39 and 40 32.-'is provided with corresponding sprock- 'pairof driving-shafts 35 and 36 have'. y their lower: ends engaging with bearings 37- in the frame members 12 and 13.` These I shafts are provided at their lower ends with worm ,gfgears 41 vand/12 which'. are both enl gaged by a vworm 431 which is 'secured toaA The basic eatu'rerior principle of myf4 ventiorrconsistsinthe provision of rotatable@ or movable members? which are pressed" witha-v any degree oiipressure desired,'agigaiiist the' spondingsprockets VThe shaft 16 isjprovidedlat end shaft-l4n4.V This shaft is' mounted'in bearings 45and is driven by means of a. motor y45, or.-

The. upper with two sprockets 49 which are respectively in horizontal alinement withthe upper and lower sprockets 33 on the shaft 31 and the upper and lower sprockets 47 on the shaft and the shaft 17 is provided at its upper end with two sprockets 50, which are respectively in alinement with the upper and lower sprockets 34 on the shaft 32 and the upper and lower sprockets 48 on the shaft 46.

' Two arms 51 and 52 are pivotally mounted at the back ofthe machine upon bearings which are preferably concentric with the shafts 35 and 36. The arm 51 is formed of upper and lower horizontal members connected at their outer ends by a shaft 53 carrying the upper and lower sprockets 54. vThe arm 52 has a shaft 55 at its outer end lwhich is provided with upper and lower' sprocket 56. -A chain 57 passes around the upper set of sprockets 47, 54, 49 and 33, and a second chain 58 passes around the Vcorresponding 4lower set of sprockets. Similar chains 59 and 60 pass around the upper and lower sets of sprockets on the oppositev sidev of the machine, as will be clearly seen from the drawings. These pairsof chains 57, 5.8 and 5 9, 460 carry the devices which act directlyA upon the body. Various devices may be used to be appliedto the. body, but in the drawings these devices are shown as comprising series of rollers 61 which are rotatably supported on the chains. In order to carry these rollers, the chains are provided at intervals with vertical brackets 62 which are securely fastened to the chains and have end bearings for the rods 63 upon which the rollers 61 are mounted. These vrollers may be made of any suitable material, but good results are obtained from rollers made of unyielding vmaterial such as wood or the '.like. In the machines constructed, I have found that rollers approximately 18 inches long and 1% inches in diameter give satisfactory results.

A stand 64 is secured to the base 10, in the center lof the machine, and is threaded at the ltop to receive a screw 65 which carries the platform 66. This provides for a convenient method of adjusting the platform for persons of different heights and when the platform is adjusted, it may be locked in position by means of a locking screw 67 which Aclamps the upper portion of the stand 64 against the screw 65.

It will be observed that when the arms 29 and` 30. are swung inwardly, thefchains would be "loosened if some means for ti hhtf e ried thereby, act as tighteners for the chain belts, suitable means being provided for placing tension on these arms. A rope or cable 68 is attached to the upper and outer .end of the arm 51 and then ypasses over a n guide pulley/69,' carried by abracket 7 at the rear of the machine, and then down and under a traveling pulley 71 and up and over a second guide pulley 72, and has its; opposite end secured to the outer and lower end o f the arm 51. The guide pulley 7 2 is carried on a bracket 73'at the rear of the mation of the arm 52 and then pas s;

guide pulley 75 and `then down an: under a traveling pulley.76.and up and ov'er a sec-- ond guide pulley 77 and has its other end connected to the outer and lower portion of the arm 52. The guide sheaves 75 andv 77 are carried by brackets 78 and 79 at the rear. of, the machine. The blocks of the pulleys 1 71 and 76 are 'connected by a rope or cable 80 which runs under a sheave or pulley 81..

which carries a weight82. This arrangef ment is such that the weight, acting) through the ropes and pulleys, tends'to swing the outer ends of the arms 51 and 452gb'ackwardly and the weight is preferably' made only suficiently heavy so that it will hold', the chains from sagging and will preventt their running oil fromkthe sprocket'whe'els. I also provide means so that any desired amount of tension may be placed upon the chains, such tension being regulated byor.

under the control of the operator. Thisr is done by providing means for `forcibly pulling on the free ends of the arms 51.and 52. The arm 51 Ais' provided with upper and lowerl ropes or cables 83 and 8 4,l which' cables are connected lto the arms andepass around drums 85 and 86 on a vertical shaft 87 at the rear of the machine. Corresponding cables 88 and 89 are connected tothe arm 52 and wound around the same drums.

The shaft 87 is provided with a'spring 90 which tends to rotate it suiicientlyvvto -take up any' slack in these cables. A worm wheel 91 is mounted vto turn freely on the lower end of the shaft 87 This wheel is erfgaged by a worm-92 on a shaft 93 which extends out to the side of the machine `and is provided with a crank- 94 for turning the same.

The worm wheel 91 is provided with clutch teeth which engagewith a clutch member'95 whichis keyed or spl/ined to the shafktf87,

and which v-may be shifted up or down-byv means of a lever. 96, aspring-97 also being provided beneath the clutchr member which tends to lhold it in engagingpo'sition.

The operation of my improved' machine will be readilyfunderstood from the above description and the accompanying 'drawings. The person to be treatedr or,r acted upon, usually stands upon the standor plat- Jr`orn1`66, as clearly shown in Fig.- 1,'and may face or stand in any desired position between the chains or rollers. 'Handles 98 are provided which may-be graf' f 1w Hm person acted upon when standing inthe position shown in Fig. 1. The motor may be started either before or after the person enters the machine. When the motor is started, it turns the worm '-13 which in turn drives the worm gears 41 and 42 which rotate the shafts and 36 and th'us drive the sprocket wheels 47 and 48 which drive the roller supporting chains or carriers, all oi? the other sprocket wheels merely acting guides. rilhese chains may be driven at any desired speed, but 1 have found that good results are obtained when they are driven about twenty. feet per minute. When the treatment to be given'is around the trunk o the person to be acted upon, he takes position on the platform 66 and the operatorturns the crank 2? which rotates the sha'ts 16 and 17 and swings the arms *29 and 30 inwardly. As. these arms swing in, theportions of the chains between the driving sprockets and the sprockets at the` outer ends of the arms 51 and 5'2, will conform closely to the curvature of the body of the person and a considerable number of the rollers 61 will engage with the body as clearly indicated in Fig. 4, in which the y dotted line 99 represents the outline 'of a person in the machine. When a person is standing in the position shown in Fig. 1, orl standing facing the other way, pressure from front to back may be regulated by turning the crank 27 which Y1vill swing the arms in until the inner ends tend to press the person against the rollers at the back of the machine. ln this manner, any desiredm pressure may be brought against the back or'. abdomen, while but slight tension is given to the chains, and' consequently these portions of the body will be most thoroughly acted upon. 1f it isdesired to give a uniform action or pressure around the body, the arins) and 30 will be swung in until the rollers engage with as much of the periphery of the body as possible, and ther any desired amount of pressure be sef cured upon the body by increasing the tension on the chains. This is done by throwing the clutch 95 into engagement with ytbe worm wheel 91 and then turning the crank llhen this' crank is turned, thel worm 92 turns the worm wheel 91 which `drives the shaft S7 and causes the cables 83 and 88 to be wound upon the drum 85, andthe cables 84 and S9 to be wound up on the drum S6. As these cables are wound Vup they pull the arms 51 andibackwardly as indi? cated in Fig. d, and thereforegtighten the chainfbelts. These belts with the Contact or pressiire rollers maybe driven in any direction desired, or their direction of movement may be' al toroated as by reversing the motor, butprefer to drive there in opposite di-y rections 'orso that the inner portions therearea, and so as to permit each roller toi engage more or less forcibly with the body. These rollers, however, should be proportioned and mounted so as to prevent thechains from coming in contact with the body or body covering'. The person taking the treatment, particularly a body treatment, ordinarily wears a gown of heavy material such as duck, in order to prevent the rollers from engaging directly with the skin. It will be seen that, with the chains wrapped substantially around the entire periphery of the body and with the rollers moving in opposite directions, there will be no noticeable tendency toward twisting the body while, at the same time, the rollers acting under such pressure as may be desired, will giveva highly eicient massaging action. An important featureof this machine is the balanced action of the massaging devices, due to their being mounted on the iiexible chains, so that the pressure of the rollersfon one 4side of the body is resisted by the rollers on theopposite side of the body. On account of this balanced yielding supportrof the body between the massaging devices an exceedingly heavy pressure may be safely given, which gives a thorough kneading action to the body. In .fact the pressure which may be safely applied is so great that the supporting chains must be strong and substantial in order to withstand the strains. The entire machine must be made very strong in order vthat this 'pressure may be given thereby. This will beA further understood from the fact that I have found it desirable to use horse-power' 4motors for driving the chains. `When theA treatment has been continlrfd for a suiiicient length of time, the vstress put upon the arms 51 and 52 by the .tightening cables is relieved and the clutch 95 thrown out of enson being acted upon to step out of the machine.

vThis machine may be used 'in a large va'- riety of ways for giving treatment to the dierent portions off-the ,.body. For in`v stance,A in some cases the lperson to be acted l i upon sits upon a stool facingorwardly in the machine with the rollers engaging with,

or embracing the back and'sbeuiers orthev n .upper portion of the body;A Or the 1`)e S`0n" to be acted upon may vstand sidevvis'e in'thc machinaor in any'desiredposition whereby.,

with any desired 'degree of pressure. ForA massaging, or acting upon a persons arm, vthe arms 29 and 30 may be swung inwardly until their inner ends bring the Vopposite rollers close together, and the arm can be in serted from Vthe front of the machine and Will be engaged for practically its entire length by the rollers-on either side thereof,

Awhich Will give an exceedingly rapid and effective treatment. It is dithcult, or impossible to determine all the benefitsfwhich 'said carriers being arranged so that the roll-'f` may result from the proper use` of this machine, but in actual :tests it has been proven effective in reducing the ,sizes of corpulcnt persons, that is in reducing their various v(':ircuniferential measurements, as Well. as reducing the Weights of su'eh persons, and

has. also-served for the purpose of .reducing i lanieness orsoreness in the limbs due to strains or the like. The machine also seems to stimulate the action-on the internal organs in a desirable manner. v

It will be observed that various forms of rollers may be used in my machine, andI various changes may be made `inthe details of construction land arrangement of parts without departinglrom the spirit ot' this invention, and therefore, l do not vWish to limit myself to such exact construction and arrangement, except as specifitd in the following claims,- in whiclil claim:

1. In a machine ot the character set forth, -the combination ot' a series of massaging rollers for engagement with the body of a person, 4flexible supports for said rollers, said supports being spaced a sullicient distance from' the engaging portions of the rollers so as not to come in contaetwith the body, means tor holding said rollers in en ygagement with the body,- and means for moving said rollers while in engagement 'Y with the body.`

, 2. In a machine ol` the character setforth, the combination of a continuous series of rotatable devices for-,engagement with the body of a'person, flexible supports'tor said dev ices arranged to avoid contact with the body, means Jfor actuating said supports to roll the devices against the body, and means .torl tightening said supports to regulate the pressureV against theA body.

3. In a machine of the character set forth,

the lcombination of tivo series of oppositelyl disposed rotatable devices for engagement with. thebodyoie a person, liexible carriers for carrying the engaging devices of each of said series, means for adjusting said carriers to bring a plurality of the engaging 'posed flexible carriers, a series offrollers se- 70 cured vto'each of said carriers and spaced sutliciently close to prevent the carriers from coming in contact with the person acted upon, Ameans for supporting said oarriei's, means for driving said carriers, and 75 Ameans for adjusting the tension on said carriers. Y v

In a machine of the character set forth, I, the combination of a pair of oppositely disposed iieXible carriers, a plurality of 'rollers 86 rotatablysupportedon each of said carriers,

ers of ,the respective carriers may engage .with the opposite sides of the body or limbs ofv a person placed between the carriers,

'adjustable chain supports 'mounted in said,

frame, two chains carried by each of said supports, means Jfor driving said chains from the driying shafts, a plurality of rollers mounted'on said chains, means for.. adjusting' said chain supports whereby 'the oppositely disposed rollers may be brought' 100 to engage With the body of a erson placed between the supports, means or tightening said chains to hold them in position and auiiiliary meansfor giving additional tension to the chains. v

7. The combination of a iframe, apair of drive shaftsmounted in the vback of said trame, means tor turning said shafts, a. pair of arm supporting shafts mounted in the frame at the front thereof, means for manually turning said shafts and holding them in adjusted position, inwardly progecting arms carried by said shafts, a pair of chain tightening arms pivotally mounted -at the back of the machine, driving sprockets '11:3 mounted on the drive shafts, guide sprockets carried by the arm supporting shafts, and. also by the front and rear arms, two chains carried by said sprockets on each side 5 of the machine, vertically arranged brackets carried by the chains on each side of the machine, rollers carried by said brackets, means for putting a' fixed tension on the rear arms, manually controlled means for placing an additional tension on said arms/ and a stand orthe like at the center of the machine for supporting a persen Vbetween the oppositely'disposed pairs of chains, the

Lissone arrangement being such that the y:forward arms may be adyusted to cause the rollers on -either side of the person to engage with 'the body, and the tension on the chains may turning said last named shaft, inwardly exltending arms secured to`said second named shafts, chain tightener arms lPYotally mounted at the back of the machine, drive sprockets on said Adrive shafts, guide sprockets-on said `second named shafts and also on the iront and rear arms, two chains carried by suid sprockets on either side of the machine, brackets carried by said chains, body engaging devices carried by said brackets,

cables secured to the chain tightening arms at the back of the machine, guide pulleys' for said cables, a weight' connected with said cables, a shaft mounted atthe .back of the machine, drums on said shaft, cables from said cl-tain tightening arms to said drums, and means .for manually turning said last namedfshatfor tightening the last named cablesl 9. ln a machinej'of the character'set forth, the combination bfi a pairof Ahorizontally arranged' belts, a second pair of belts `dise posed oppositely to' the tiret-named pair,

v being adapted to engage with the opposite Cil vertical' brackets secured tov the respectivev pairs of belts, rollers mounted in said brackets, the rollers on the opposite pairs of belts sides of the body of a person, means for driving said belts, and adjusting means for causing the rollers of the opposite pairs toA approach and recede from each other for adjusting the pressure of the rollers against 'I tally to causethe rollers to act upon thebody the body of the person acted upon. o Y

)10. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination of vtwo oppositely disposed iiexible roller carrying'. devices, the rollers of which are'adapted to engage with the opposite sides of the body of a person, adjusting means for causing portions of said roller carrying devices to approach vtoward and recede from euch other, means for driving said roller carrying devices andmeans for i adjusting the pressure of the rollers against the body of: the person 'acted of, two shafts mou ted i1: the sides of the frame at the front of the machine, means for turning said shafts and locking them in adjusted position, inwardly extending arms secured to said shafts, upper and lower sprockets'carried at the outer ends of each of said arms, upper and lower sprockets on each. of 70 said shafts in alinement with the sprockets of their respective arms, two drive shafts mounted adjacent to each other at the rear oi the frame,V upper and lower sprocket Wheelson each of said shafts in alinement 475 with the corresponding sprocket wheels on. said arms, chain tightening arms pivotally mounted concentric with said drive shafts, upper and lower sprockets at the outer ends loflsaid chain tightening arms, said'sprockets 80 being in' allnement with the corresponding sprockets of the first named arms, chain belts around the upper and lower sprockets at both sides of the machine, bodyengaging devices-securedA to said chain belts, tension 85 i means for swinging said hain tightening arms for holding the chain belts in position,

manually operated tension means for giving i additional tension to said chain tightening arms, a motor, and gearing from the motor to" the drive shafts. ,p l

12. lIn a massage machine, the combination of seriesof 'oppositely disposed vertically arranged rollers, horizontally arranged fiexibleyielding supports for said rollers, said supports being arranged so as not to come in contactwith the person acted upon, means for moving said supports to cause the rollers to act on the body of a person positioned between the series of rollers, and means for adjusting said series of rollers relatively Ato each other, in a horizontal direction. Y

13. In a massage machine, the combinao tion of two oppositelv disposed series of verticallv arranged rollers, the rollers in f each series being spaced at short distances apart to prevent their supports from coming in contact With the body, horizontally arranged yielding supports for said rollers, means for moving said supports horizonof a person' positioned between they two series ci rollers, and-means for adjusting the supports horizontally with respect to each other, in order tol increase or decrease the distance between AVthe rollers of thevtwo seriesl 14. In a massage machine, the combiua' tion of a pair of horizontally arranged belts, means for moving said belts in a horizontal direction, and a plurality of vertically arranged rollers spaced at short distances y apart and carried by said belts, and adapted to act upon the body of a person pressing against the same while preventing the'luits from engafino with the bov., l

l5. In abmssage macbindfthe combina-4 tion of a pair of horizontally arranged belts,

means for supporting said belts, means for reciprocating said belts 1n a horizontal direction', and/a plurality of vertically arranged.

rollers snaced at short distances apart, and 'carried by said belts.

16. InaV massage machine, the combine-l tion' of two 'oppostely disposed pairs or horizontally arranged flexible belts, vertically arranged rollers carried by each pair of -said belts, means for reciprocating each pair 10 of belts in a horizotitalpdirection, and means for :uljusting'- the pairs of belts horizontally to move .them toward or away from each other. Y

J AMES P. GARIQNER. Witnesses G r. P. LENNARTZ, IRENE FoRREsT. 

